4 Key Elements to Writing a Strong Film Treatment & Why it Matters | No Film School

Filmmakers and writers for the screen, the “treatment” is very important.

In the lifecycle of a film, a “treatment” is a document that precedes the actual screenplay. In this post, Patrick Biesemans describes how the treatment has evolved and why a strong treatment is so important. A treatment documents the full storyline in intimate detail and provides character definitions. It captures the writer’s vision on all aspects of the project, such as images, lighting, sound, mood, and atmosphere. A treatment can be instrumental in selling a story. Mr. Biesemans recommends always generating a treatment, because it helps to fully flesh out what the writer want to accomplish in the film, and this unified view will benefit the entire cast and crew.

Early development in the treatment informed everything from the cinematography all the way to the production design, props, and wardrobe of ‘Embers & Dust.’ (photo from article)

Your treatment can do a lot more than sell a project—it can be your production’s guiding light.

There was a time when a treatment, by Hollywood standards, was simply a text document describing the highlights of your script and ranging from 6-60 pages; it usually included a logline, a synopsis, character introductions, and a truncated/condensed version of your story. […]